Is There a Legal Basis for Cultural Nationalism in the Return of Cultural Property? Multilateral Instruments versus Bilateral Agreements

Abstract

This article traces the emerging norms of legal obligation under international law to return the looted property taken during the colonial period. Return requests are among the primary demands of decolonised states, who bring the issue to international forums. This obligation has been incrementally recognised and further developed in several multilateral instruments adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the United Nations (UN), and states, along with non-state actors adopting provisions to criminalise the theft of cultural property and to ensure its return as part of available remedies. In parallel with the development of this obligation under international law, the international community has increasingly engaged in bilateral agreements for the return of cultural property. India and the USA, for instance, concluded a Cultural Property Agreement in July 2024. Among several advances and efforts to address existing gaps, the Human Rights Council adopted resolutions in 2018 and 2025 which, while recognising the human rights dimension of cultural rights, further strengthened the multilateral approach to enhanced cooperation for the restoration of stolen, looted, or trafficked cultural property to its country of origin.